horseback, the good man cheerfully complied. Once more the neighbors and
friends gathered about the grave of Nancy Hanks, and her son found
comfort in their sympathy and their presence. The spot where Lincoln's
mother lies is now enclosed within a high iron fence. At the head of the
grave a white stone, simple, unaffected, and in keeping with the
surroundings, has been placed. It bears the following inscription:

NANCY HANKS LINCOLN,
MOTHER OF PRESIDENT LINCOLN,
DIED OCTOBER 5, A.D. 1818.
AGED THIRTY-FIVE YEARS.
_Erected by a friend of her martyred son_.

Lincoln always held the memory of his mother in the deepest reverence
and affection. Says Dr. J.G. Holland: "Long after her sensitive heart
and weary hands had crumbled into dust, and had climbed to life again in
forest flowers, he said to a friend, with tears in his eyes, 'All that I
am or ever hope to be I owe to my sainted mother.'"

The vacant place of wife and mother was sadly felt in the Lincoln cabin,
but before the year 1819 had closed it was filled by a woman who nobly
performed the duties of her trying position. Thomas Lincoln had known
Mrs. Sarah Johnston when both were young and living in Elizabethtown,
Kentucky. They had married in the same year; and now, being alike
bereaved, he persuaded her to unite their broken households into one.

By this union, a son and two daughters, John, Sarah, and Matilda, were
added to the Lincoln family. All dwelt together in perfect harmony, the
mother showing no difference in the treatment of her own children and
the two now committed to her charge. She exhibited a special fondness